Trader Joe’s faces a lawsuit from two women who claim they were hospitalized after eating the grocery chain’s Tarragon Chicken Salad Wraps, which they say were contaminated with E. coli.
Gayle Gottlieb of Pembroke, North Carolina, and Meaghan Egan Bright of Somerville, Massachusetts, filed the complaint on Thursday, October 15, alleging that the wraps caused severe gastrointestinal symptoms.
The lawsuit comes as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) investigates an E. coli outbreak involving 50 reported cases. Federal investigators have identified a multi-ingredient chicken wrap as the suspected source.
The law firm Marler Clark represents the women and says the lawsuit seeks to establish how the allegedly contaminated products reached consumers.
Trader Joe’s Customers Describe Severe Symptoms After Eating Chicken Wraps
According to the complaint, Gottlieb bought three Tarragon Chicken Salad Wraps at a Trader Joe’s in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on August 29.
After eating the first wrap, she allegedly developed “severe abdominal cramping and a significant loss of appetite.”
The lawsuit states that she experienced bloody diarrhea the following day and continued having symptoms for nearly a week.
Bright reported a similar experience after purchasing a wrap at a Trader Joe’s store in Allston, Massachusetts, on August 24.
According to the filing, she developed diarrhea, nausea and “significant” abdominal cramping that “progressively worsened” over the following days.
The complaint alleges that her symptoms became so severe that she sometimes passed “what appeared to be blood and fragments of intestinal tissue rather than ordinary stool.”
Both women required hospitalization, according to their lawsuit.
FDA Investigates E. Coli Outbreak Involving 50 Reported Cases
The FDA’s active investigations table lists 50 cases of E. coli O157:H7 linked to an ongoing investigation into a multi-ingredient chicken wrap.
That is the same E. coli strain identified in the women’s lawsuit.
Federal officials have not publicly identified the specific contaminated ingredient.
“The wrap identified through the investigation at this point is past shelf-life and no longer available for purchase,” the FDA stated on its website.
The agency added that the Food Safety and Inspection Service is “working with FDA to identify the contaminated ingredient and whether it was used in other products.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) also lists a multi-ingredient chicken wrap as the subject of an active outbreak investigation.
The investigation remains ongoing, and the lawsuit’s allegations have not been established in court.
Attorney Says Lawsuit Could Reveal Details About the Chicken Wraps
Ilana Korchia, an attorney with Marler Clark, said the legal process could provide more information about the wraps’ ingredients, manufacturing and distribution.
“Trader Joe’s knows who made these wraps, what went into them, which stores received them and when they came off the shelves,” Korchia said in a press release.
“None of that is in the public record. Discovery will put it there.”
According to the law firm’s announcement, the complaint includes claims of strict product liability, negligence, negligence per se and breach of implied warranty.
The plaintiffs are also demanding a jury trial.
The FDA has stated that the wrap under investigation is past its shelf life and is no longer available for purchase.
Trader Joe’s Hit With Lawsuit After 2 Women Say Chicken Wraps Sent Them to the Hospital